The Dual Blade Wielder
by CloudyLightning
Summary: After a car accident that left him frail, he could only wish and dream of being able to walk further than ten meters. Thanks to a game developer, he was given a VRMMORPG that granted his wish. Sword Art Online.
1. Chapter 1: The Return

A/N: Yeah, I have a horrifying case of Writer's Block and I have ended up doing a Sword Art Online fiction. Before you begin reading this story, I will be somewhat following the storyline, but it may end up AUish. There's a lot of twists in this story so I hope you guys enjoy this!

DISCLAIMER: I wouldn't be writing this, would I? I DO NOT own Sword Art Online.

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Chapter 1 :

A heavy haze of drowsiness had clouded up in his head. He could feel it lifting, but he couldn't find the strength to wake up. He heard a knock on the door as someone opened his door. He pretended to sleep as he felt a small hand lightly hold his own.

"Onii-san, I'll be going to practice now, so I'll be home somewhere around five, okay?" said his little sister. He didn't bother to answer as she left his room, closing the door gently. It was always like this. If he was sleeping, his sister wouldn't dare to forcefully wake him up because she knew her brother wouldn't be really awake until half an hour later.

Once he heard the gate close outside, he forced himself to get up; remembering a promise he made to someone. His world blurred as he slowly blinked his eyes open. It took him awhile, but he was finally able to sit up without having the urge to throw up. He stared at the clock, having a bit of trouble reading it.

12:57.

Sighing in exasperation at the ache in his left leg, he picked up the NervGear sitting on his night stand. Inside was a game that was given to him as a gift. A gift that could let him do things he could never do in reality. He smiled and put on the NervGear. Lying down again, he took a deep breath.

"Link start!" came his voice in a slightly strained voice. He closed his eyes and gave a tiny smile.

._._._._._.

A black-haired young man opened his eyes and smiled. He looked down to his hands and clenched them closed.

"Finally, I'm back." he muttered. He took off in a jog, passing all the players roaming around. He quickly bought a sword along with some potions and quickly headed to the gates.

"Hey! Hey, you!" called a voice behind him. He stopped and saw a man with red hair and a red headband run up to him. He waited for him to catch up. "You look like you know you're way around. Can you help me out? I'm a new at this whole NervGear thing. I'm Klien!"

Klien held out his hand as a gesture to shake it. The black-haired adult smiled a bit and hesitantly shook his hand. "Y-yeah…I'm Kirito. I guess I can help you out…"

._._._._._._.

"Gyaaah!"

Kirito choked down a laugh as he watched Klein hit the ground with a loud thump. The boar growled and ran the other direction.

"Focus more on the way you move." Kirito advised as he watched his party member curse at the wild boar. He shook slightly as he stood.

"How can I? It keeps moving!" complained Klein. Kirito thought for a second.

"Well, think about it. In real fighting, things are always moving." Kirito said as he picked up a stone and tossed it up, swinging his hand to catch it. He pulled his arm back and got into a position of a sword skill and threw the pebble at the boar, clearly angering it.

"How'd you do that?!" asked Klein. Kirito dodged the boar heading his way as he answered.

"It's called a sword skill. The system detects our movements. Once you get into a position of a sword skill, the system will act accordingly. Meaning, it'll hit the target for you...ish." he explained, smiling all the while. He saw Klein slightly confused face. "Just think about your first movement."

"Movement….." Klein muttered. Kirito watched the boar run off before turning around to attack him again. He smiled lightly.

"It's like gathering your energy and releasing it. You try."

Klein watched him side step the boar with ease, leading toward him. "O-oi! Already?!"

He quickly got into a fighting stance and moved into a sword skill. His cutlass in his right hand shone orange; the system recognized his sword skill.

"Hooorrraaaah!" was Klein's battle cry as he rushed forward and slashed the mad boar in half. It shattered a second later.

"Yes! I did it!" yelled Klein, doing a fist pump in victory. Kirito shook his head in amusement.

"Congrats, Klein," Kirito said, placing his hands on his hips. "Just keep in mind that its as strong as those first dungeon monsters."

Klein laughed. "Haha, I thought it was a boss." He sat down and looked to the side. "But I can't believe that we're in a game. It feels so real."

Kirito forced a smile. "Yeah, it's really hard for me to believe it, too. Is this your first time in Full Dive?"

"Yup," replied Klein. "I just got the Nerve Gear after getting Sword Art Online. I probably got lucky. You must have a ton of luck to have been one of the beta testers. Only a thousand, right?"

Kirito suddenly felt irritation stir, but it definitely wasn't directed at Klein. He forced it down and cleared his throat. "Yeah, only a thousand. But it was...ah...different for me."

Klein raised his eyebrows. "Different? How?"

Kirito stared past him and put on an apathetic look. "To put it simply, I wasn't given the game randomly. I was forced to play. I rather not say what happened."

Silence came over the two as they watched to sun set. Klein was the first to break it.

"Hey, Kirito?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want to be imposing but do you have any family?" asked Klein. Kirito bit his lip for a second, debating whether or not to answer.

"Ah... I have my younger sister and mother living with me." answered Kirito, after much thought.

"A little sister? Is she here too? Is she cute?"

Kirito raised his hands up in defense as Klein bombarded him with several questions about his sister.

"Ah...she isn't into games like us..." Kirito half whispered to Klein. Klein gave Kirito an odd look before sighing.

"Ah, but you're lucky." said Klein, watching the sun set in the distance. "I'm living alone."

Kirito blinked. "And you're telling me this because...?"

Klein got up and shrugged. "Don't know. I just felt like telling you. Come to think of it, do you wanna meet my friends?"

Kirito didn't answer. He frowned and took a step back. Klein got the message though. He stood up and smiled.

"Maybe some other time, then?" said Klein. Kirito nodded, looking away.

"Sorry. I'm not used to actually taking to people other than my sister, mother, and two others. But thank you." he said.

"I should be thanking you for helping me out, Kirito. So, thanks." Klein said. "Well, I gotta go soon. My pizza's going to be here by 5:30."

He glanced to his bottom right. Most likely checking the time. Kirito did the same realizing that he needed to log out soon.

"Same here-er, not the pizza part. I mean, I have to log out soon, too." said Kirito as he scratched the back of his head. Klein smiled and held out his hand. Kirito nervously shook it.

"Nice meeting you, Kirito," said Klein with a smile. "I hope we'll meet again real soon."

Kirito nodded, "I hope so too."

They let go of each other's hands and turned around. Kirito took a couple steps forward and opened his menu. He scrolled through a couple things and, as if it was a habit, scrolled down to the LOG OUT bu-

Kirito froze when he heard Klein's voice.

"Hey, Kirito? Where's the LOG OUT button...?"

Kirito's heart began to race a mile per second and he knew that he had to calm down. His breaths came in short and his head seemed to be spinning. He quickly dismissed the menu and clutched his chest, forcing himself to calm down.

"C-check again," he said. His voice sounded forced and caused Klein to look his way.

"You alright?" asked Klein with concern. Kirito nodded and immediately dropped his hand and forced to breath normally.

"Yes, I'm fine. Try and call the GM. Maybe he'll help us out." Kirito suggested, changing the subject.

"I am now, but I don't think he's answering." Klein walked over to Kirito and placed a hand in his shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Kirito resisted the urge to brush Klein's hand away from him. "Can you stop that? You sound like my mo-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence when a white light surrounded them both. Klein's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"What the-!"

* * *

Cliffy! But you guys already know what happens. Wait! Things are going to change from there on out. Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think. I will accept any comments but flames. Those will be used to melt chocolate chucks in cold milk.

-CloudyLight


	2. Chapter 2: The Welcome Tutorial

Here's chapter 2! Sorry it's a bit late. I ended up having to write 3,000 word short story about triumph and I don't know if I did it correctly. But oh well. I tried. Anyway, some of the dialogue was taken from the anime and I changed some lines here and there. So...

DISCLAIMER! Do I own SAO? Of course not, do you want a cookie? I don't happen to have any...

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Chapter 2: l

She couldn't stop shaking as she ran home when she heard the news spread like wild fire. Two hundred and thirteen people passed away and over nine thousand had been trapped inside Sword Art Online, the exact game her brother was given and most likely being played right now.

She reached the gate of her home and fumbled with the lock, desperately hoping her brother was just sleeping as always. A whole thirty seconds passed by the time she unlocked the gate. Making a mad dash for the door, she jammed her house key in the lock and opened the door, rushing inside.

She ran up the stairs and stopped at the door to her brother's room. Taking a deep breath, she slammed open the door.

"Onii-chan!" she cried as she ran over to her brother's side. Just when she was about to touch his hand, she froze. Her brother was sleeping no doubt, but the Nerve Gear around his head gave it all away.

"Suguha!" She whirled around and saw her mother rushing into the room. She moved away from her brother as her mother quickly came over to check if he was alright.

"Okasan," Suguha said, fear evident in her voice. Her mother didn't look up as she checked the "sleeping" teen.

"He's going to fine, right?" Suguha asked. Her voice shook. Her mother looked over to her and smiled sadly.

"I don't know, Suguha." she said, taking Suguha's hand into her own. "I don't know."

._._._._._.

"Forced Teleportation?" Klein exclaimed as he quickly looked around. He knew immediately where he was. He was in the plaza of the Starting City. It wasn't only him and Kirito; there were thousands other players. And, by the looks of it, about all ten thousand.

He almost fell when the sudden weight of Kirito leaned against him. He looked down and saw Kirito had blacked out. How? He didn't know. Worried, he shook Kirito.

"Oi, oi! Wake up, Kirito!" said Klein, hoping the young man would get up. Kirito stirred slightly, and slowly pushed himself away from Klein.

"W-what happened?" He slurred. Klein didn't get the chance to answer as the sky suddenly became red with the word "warning" appearing in several cell plates. Leaking out of the sky came out a red substance that seemed very close to blood, all gathering at a single place in midair.

"What is that...?" Klein muttered as Kirito forced himself to get up. By the time he stood straight, a large hooded figure appeared above the plaza. The players below started up at the figure.

"Is that the Game Master?" asked someone close by.

"Where's his face?" asked another.

"Is this some kind of event?"

Questions and questions could be heard in every direction. Klein and Kirito said nothing as they continued to look up. Suddenly, the hooded figure raised his hands.

"Players, welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. Currently, I am the only person able to control this world." introduced the hooded figure. Kirito tensed and Klein took no notice of his friend's reaction.

"I am sure that you have all noticed the absence of the logout button on the menu screen." continued Kayaba. "However, this is not an error. This is all part of the game. A feature of Sword Art Online. I repeat, this not an error but a feature of SAO."

"A-a feature...?" Klein asked. Kirito grabbed his left arm on reflex as he felt dread become a stone in his throat.

Kayaba continued on. "You cannot log out of SAO on your own and neither can the people outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear. If anyone on the outside does either of this, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a strong amount of microwave radiation, wrecking your brain and killing you instantly."

Many players erupted into more questions.

"What is he saying?"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Oh, come on! Enough already. That can't be true."

Klein looked over to Kirito. "Hey, what's he talking about? He must be crazy. Right, Kirito?"

Kirito didn't look at Klein but stared into space. "No, Klein, he's right. The transceiver's microwave signals are like a microwave oven. If the limiter is cut off, then our brains get fried..."

"Why not cut off the power?" Klein asked. Kirito shook his head.

"Can't do that." he answered as he tightened his grip around his arm. "The NerveGear has an internal battery."

Klein had a look of disbelief before he shook his head. "But that's messed up! What's going on here?!"

"Unfortunately, the friends and family members of many players did not heed the warning. As a result, 213 players have been permanently removed from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba announced. Klein and Kirito stared back at Kayaba with wide eyes.

"Two hundred and thirteen players?" Kirito breathed out as he felt shock add in with his dread. Klein shook his head.

"I don't believe this. I don't believe this at all!" Klein yelled. Many other players shouted their disbelief with him. Many screens appeared around Kayaba's form as he continued on.

"What I'm showing you is the many news organizations across the world that are reporting on this incident and the unfortunate deaths. And now, you no longer have to worry about the danger of someone removing your NerveGear."

Kirito's eyes scanned the screens. Several were about those who died and the warnings that are blinking desperately. But just one caught his eye. It displayed a mother holding her crying daughter outside the yellow tape that surrounded a house. Kirito recognized the setting immediately.

That was his home. The place he had trouble just going up and down the stairs. The place where his sister would constantly pester him. He nearly reached out to his mother and sister. He wanted to wake up and tell them that he was alright.

But he knew he couldn't. Kayaba's voice drew him back to reality.

"Please relax and enjoy the game." he said his amusement in his voice. "But, keep in mind, you can no longer be revived in this game. Once your hit points reaches zero, your avatar will be erased, along with your life."

Silence swept over the crowd of players.

"The only way to get out of this game is to clear the game. To clear all one hundred floors. Right now you are on floor one. Make your way through the dungeons and defeat every floor boss to reach the top. Defeat the final boss on the hundredth floor, and you will clear the game."

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves about how ridicules the whole thing was. Kirito swallowed.

"Clear all one hundred floors?" Klein asked. "That's impossible! None of the beta testers made it anywhere close to that far!"

"And lastly," Kayaba continued, "I have a gift for you in your item storage. Please go right ahead."

Without a second thought, Kirito opened up his game menu and opened his item storage. "A mirror?"

He tapped on the mirror and it appeared before him in his hand. He looked at the mirror and only saw his game avatar. A blinding white light beside Kirito made him look over.

Klein's voice was yelling out in shock. He was surrounded by the white light. Like a chain reaction, everyone else around Kirito was engulfed by the white light. Soon after, he too became engulfed by the light.

Three seconds later, Kirito immediately noticed that everything seemed slightly taller. Foot steps sounded behind him as a voice that sounded like Klein asked him a question.

"You okay, Kirito?"

Kirito turned around to answer. "A-ah, yeah...wait, who are you?"

A young-ish man stood before him with his eyes wide and confused.

"And who are you?" the man asked. Kirito immediately held up the mirror in his hands to his face. He expected to see his game avatar staring back at him but instead he saw himself. A black haired fifteen year old with black eyes; his skin pale from the lack of going out into the sun.

Kirito realized he was looking at himself. He lowed the mirror and looked around as the other players also had their appearance change. Some were accusing others for lying about their gender or age.

"So that means..." Kirito trailed off as he looked at the man in front of him. He raised a finger at him. "You're Klein?!"

"You're Kirito?!" Klein exclaimed at the same time as he did the same thing. "How?" He lowered his arm. Kirito did the same.

"That scan...must be what happened..." he answered. "The NerveGear traces your entire face with its high-density sensor. That's how it knows what your face looks like. But our height and weight?"

"When we first used the NerveGear, we had to calibrate it. Remember? You had to touch your body all over..." Klein said. Kirito grabbed his left arm again.

"That makes sense. That must have got to be how it got that data." he said as he looked down.

"But why?" Klein asked as he grabbed his head in confusion. "Why is this happening to us?!"

"I have a feeling Kayaba will tell us soon." Kirito answered as he looked up at the hooded figure once again.

"All of you must be wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all of this? One of my goals has already been reached. I wanted to create my own world that I can observe and admire. That is partially why I created Sword Art Online." Kayaba explained. "And now, it has been done. This ends the welcome tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish every player the best of luck."

With that note, the hooded figure regressed back to its liquid form and returned to the fake sky. In that second the sky became normal again, the colors of sun set taking over. Every player stood rooted to their spot, dead silent. For a full ten seconds no one uttered a word.

Kirito only tightened his grip around his arm and bit the back of his lip. He knew that this virtual reality suddenly became every players' reality whether they wanted it or not. And he knew that Akihiko Kayaba, the genius who created the NerveGear and a virtual reality environment, did not lie about reaching one of his goals. But Kirito never expected Kayaba to literally trap 10,000 players into a death game. Not once had that thought even came in mind.

A loud scream made Kirito look up. The whole plaza exploded into screams of horror and defiance. He felt his head begin to spin as the screams and yells continued on. Quickly, he grabbed Klein's wrist.

"Let's get out of here!" Kirito yelled over the screams. Klein only nodded and allowed Kirito to lead him out of the plaza and to a random alley.

"Klein, we need to head to the next town. If we don't go now, then the whole area will be over hunted by other players." Kirito said as he released his hand from Klein's wrist. "If it's just us, we can make it."

Klein blinked. "Just us? Wait, Kirito, I still got friends out there. I'm pretty darn sure that they're scared right now. I can't leave them behind."

Kirito bit the back of his bottom lip. He could handle having one person with him but with any more than that he was sure-

Klein's hand rested on Kirito's shoulder. "Relax will ya?" he said as he gave Kirito's shoulder a light squeeze. "You're shaking."

Kirito forced himself to calm down as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. After a couple seconds, he spoke in a more calmer tone.

"But I can't protect all of you guys." he said as he guiltily looked up at Klein.

"You don't have to," Klein stressed. He let go of Kirito and ran a hand through his red hair. "We can handle ourselves. And besides, you gave me all those tips. I'm sure I can help."

Kirito shook his head, half to disagree with Klein and half to ease the head ache coming on. "This is real, Klein. This isn't some kind of game anymore."

He cringed when the pain in his head grew. With effort, he strained to focus on Klein. He saw Klein's mouth moving but he couldn't make out the words. He placed a hand on his head. At that moment, Kirito realized that something was going wrong. He isn't supposed to feel any pain in this game but yet he could feel the stinging ache in his left leg and the heavy cloud of drowsiness that always stayed with him in real world.

Then suddenly, his world became black and a machine operated voice of a woman echoed in his head.

_"SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT 1 PERCENT."_

* * *

And now, it goes AU! Yup, I will be somewhat following the story line. And there will be no OCs because they are completely unstable to be in a SAO fan fiction like this one. There will be OOCness especially from Kirito. So, tell me what you guys think! And...Thank you to Reeves-san and DragonBlaze66 for reviewing last chapter! and all those who favorited and followed this story!

-CloudyLightning


	3. Chapter 3: The Wake Up Call

Hm... I really should be doing my Junior Project... oh well. Here's the next chappy!

DISCLAIMER: Hahaha, I'm a girl not a guy. Anyone got Chocolate?

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Chapter 3

Klein climbed up the stairs in an inn and headed to a room at the farthest end. It was three days after the announcement of the death game. Practically all the beta players left immediately after the event as they focused more on their own lives than all the beginners. Everyone still in the Starting City were still debating whether to continue into the game since they were scared of losing their life.

However, Klein had been searching for his friends. Luckily for him, he was able to find all six of his friends. But right now he was more concerned about someone else; the kid he met the first day of the death game. Don't get him wrong; he's grateful that his friends are alive, but this kid make him worry. There was something about Kirito that makes him uneasy with a lot of things. If he were to explain it, it would be a long list.

His friends were getting suspicious of Kirito.

Without bothering to knock, Klein opened the door and headed inside. The room was a small, simply decorated place with a bed at the corner and a small, wooden circle table with a matching wooden chair. Not much, but the pay for the room was very cheap. He closed the door behind him and pulled the chair up to the bedside as he sighed.

An unconscious Kirito laid there as he "slept" another day away. He scared the crap out of Klein when he suddenly collapsed. At first, Klein thought that Kirito passed out from panic, but that didn't seem to be the case. After trying to wake Kirito up for ten minutes, he decided to at least give him a place to rest. But soon those minutes turned into hours, and hours into days, and he didn't move an inch. Klein concluded yesterday that Kirito's avatar was either acting weird or the Kirito in the real world is having problems.

He shook his head to clear it. It must be the latter reason. Hopefully, it wasn't bad. As he leaned back in his chair, Klein opened up his menu and began to sort the things in his item storage. He got bored after a few minutes. But just as he dismissed his menu with a sigh, Kirito's hand twitched.

"Kirito...?"

._._._._._.

Kirito drowsily forced himself to wake up when he heard someone call his name. His vision blurred then cleared. He was staring at a ceiling before a familiar face came into view.

"Good morning?" Kirito asked as his eyes were still half closed. He was still waking up. Klein's face showed relief. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?"

Klein gave him a disbelieving look. "'Something wrong'?! Kirito, you've been asleep for three days!"

Kirito only blinked, confusion written all over his face as he sat up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched, his face in a complete daze. "Kirito?" He shook his head. "Whatever, time to wake up. Sugu is going to be fussing over me if I sleep any longer..."

Hardly noticing Klein, he got out of bed and made the covers. Klein stared at him in shock. What in the world is Kirito doing?! He asked himself. He quickly grabbed Kirito and pushed him into a chair.

"Hey, Kirito! Wake up! Are you okay?" he asked as he shook the boy a bit. Kirito flinched but the drowsiness didn't leave his eyes.

"Of course, I'm fine. What are you doing? Did Sugu let you in? Or was it Okaa-san?" he asked tiredly as he tried to remove Klein's hands from his arms.

"What am I - I would be asking you the same thing! Kirito, you're not at home! Do you know who I am!?" Klein nearly exclaimed. Kirito blinked and shook his head again.

"Aren't you one of Rinko-nee-chan's workers?" he asked as he continued his attempt at getting Klein off him. Klein gave him a bewildered look.

"What? I don't even know who that is!" he said as he gripped Kirito in slight fear. It can't be possible that Kirito had lost his mind, did he? "Look, Kirito." he began firmly. "Right now, you're in a game called Sword Art Online. Three days ago, the creator of SAO had trapped all the players into a death game. And you are one of them."

Kirito frowned as he gave up trying to get Klein to let go of him and rubbed his eyes again. Part of the drowsiness had left. "SAO? A death game...? Akihiko?"

Klein waited impatiently. He could see that he was able to knock some sense into Kirito when he saw his eyes widen slightly.

"Wait... Klein?" he said as his focus was finally coming back. "What happened?"

Klein let out a relieved sigh and let his arms fall as he leaned back. "Thank, Kami-sama! I thought I lost you for a second there, Kirito. You suddenly collapsed three days ago. You hadn't moved at all so I thought something must've happened to you in the real world! Do you remember anything?"

Kirito closed his eyes and tried to remember something - anything - about that day. But all he came up with was the mechanical voice in his head. What the heck did that mean? He knew what system collaboration is but he didn't know what system his NerveGear is collaborating with! He bit the back off his bottom lip and decided not to say anything to Klein. If this had something to do with him and not anyone else, he will keep it to himself.

"I can't seem to remember anything," he replied as he straight-out lied to Klein. He felt guilty as he tried to convince himself that he did the right thing, keeping Klein, his first friend in an online game, in the dark.

Klein didn't seem to notice his lie as he nodded to himself. "I see... Then all this must be bad luck." he said.

"Must be. Hey, how long did you say I was out?" Kirito asked.

"Three days." came Klein's response. Kirito's eyes widened as he suddenly stood up.

"Three days?! I'm so behind!"

Klein raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Easy, Kirito! Look at your stats before jumping to conclusions."

Kirito opened up his menu and checked his stats. "I'm...level five? How? I thought I was still level one...!"

Klein laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "I forgot that you were still in my party..."

._._._._._.

Koujiro Rinko was ready to kick something. She was never the one to actually have the urge to do that, but when it came to a certain someone, she could not stop that urge. She had been looking for her patient's file medical for over an hour but she could not find it anywhere.

She clearly remembered placing the file on her desk in her office right before she left to get a cup of coffee. At first, she suspected that the nurses around the hospital took it, but when she asked around, she learned that none of the nurses were near her office and that one of them saw a shadowy figure walking around.

Rinko sat down behind her desk and thought hard of who in the world would take the file. No one came into mind until she heard another ambulance in a distance, no doubt bringing in another SAO victim.

Kayaba Akihiko must've stolen the file. But, if he stole it then why would he need it? As far as she was concerned, Kayaba didn't care much about the lives around him. Then she remembered who's medical file it was. The patient happened to have mental disorder that took his ability to walk for long distances because of an accident several years ago. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

Kayaba Akihiko has stolen Kirigaya Kazuto's medical file.

* * *

Haaaaa~ I was planning to reveal that a little later but I thought, "oh, what the heck. You guys already know who Kirito is." But anyway... Thank you to Guest, Reeves-san, Tantei1412, NNeko, Kanrei, and SnowTime for reviewing last chapter! Tell me what you guys think of this chapter! And yes, I just realized that we didn't really get anywhere, oh well.

-CloudyLightning


	4. Chapter 4: The Boss Meeting

Yeah, I updated again! For those who reviewed last chapter, I didn't reply to you guys because I focused on getting this done. Aha, and I'm supposed to do my research paper... -

Again, some of the dialogue was taken from the anime with a few changes.

DISCLAIMER: Who the heck do you think I am? I do I own such a thing like that? I would love, too, though.

* * *

Chapter 4

It was the second day of December in the year of 2022 when the sun began to reach overhead as Kirito wedged a chair under the door handle of his door. He backed away and bit the back of his lip. He wasn't sure if this would hold Klein back but he had to give it a try. One whole month with Klein has driven him crazy. He's been mothered several times and it already began to bother him.

He sighed as walked over to his only window and opened it. A slight breeze ruffled his black hair as he looked up and down the street. Many NPC and players were walking around, giving Kirito a good diversion.

"Dang it, I really hope this works…" Kirito muttered under his breath. He hurriedly opened his menu. He quickly tapped through and stopped at Klein's name in his party. Ever since he woke up, Klein made sure that Kirito was in his party **at all times**. Kirito wasn't too happy about that since Klein can never seem to leave him alone. Klein kept him on a freakishly short leash that Kirito couldn't help but feel completely restrained, but he could understand Klein's worry. After all, who wouldn't be worried over someone who suddenly collapses in front of them?

His hand froze over the box notifying his request to leave the party. Kirito thought long and hard about this earlier. Once he leaves the party, he was planning to go and search for the meeting place that someone organized. He heard from one of Klein's friends that the other players found the first boss and that they're setting up a meeting to beat the boss. Kirito suggested that they go, but Klein was completely against the idea; and thus, making Kirito leave the party.

He shook his head and confirmed that he was leaving the party. Immediately after doing so, Klein's HP bar disappeared from under his own as he dismissed his menu and jumped out the window with slight ease. He landed clumsily, but he quickly recovered and took off on a full sprint. By now, he was sure Klein received the notification.

"Please don't catch me, please don't catch me," he muttered under his breath as he ran. He stammered short apologies to others as he quickly dodged the people who were in his way, player or not. With the general idea where the meeting is, he somehow managed to find his way to a small arena. Other players were already there, whispering amongst each other. Kirito took a seat at a random place to catch his breath. But the moment he sat down, he heard a notification bell ring out.

"Dang it!" he half whispered as he threw his head back in annoyance. He opened his menu again to find that Klein had sent him a message. Holding back a frustrated groan, Kirito opened the message.

**Klein:**

**WHERE ARE YOU? Kirito, how many times do I have to tell you NOT TO GO OFF ON YOUR OWN? Don't make me hunt you down, or I will, Kirito.**

Kirito rolled his eyes and sent a reply.

**Kirito: **

**Don't worry, Klein! I'm completely fine and there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Once I'm done, I'll join you later, okay? You're not my mom.**

He was about to dismiss his menu when another message popped up from Klein.

**Klein:**

**Don't worry?! I have every right to worry! What if you suddenly collapse in the middle of a battle?! Who's going to help you out?! Look, I know I'm not your mom but there has to be something extremely wrong with your body in the real world if you slept that long.**

Kirito bit the back of his lip since Klein was right. He wasn't sure if his little episode a month ago was caused by his body in the real world, but he was sure on one thing. Klein is the most overprotective person ever! Kirito reluctantly typed his reply to Klein.

**Kirito:**

**I will say this again and will keep doing so until you get it. You have NOTHING to worry about. I'm not going to die in this death game.**

_Not until I find out why _he _is doing this. _He thought to himself. He finally dismissed his menu and promptly ignored another of Klein's messages. Someone clapped twice and called everyone's attention to the bottom of the arena.

"Alright, let's get started, everyone!"

All the talking quickly ceased as the meeting began. A player with blue-green hair and eyes stood at the center with a smile on his face. He looked the age of a young adult with the brownish armor he wore. Kirito found it odd that someone can actually smile at this time of crisis. He shrugged it off and listened to the man spoke.

"Thanks for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my "job" as a Knight." the man introduced as he gestured to himself. Several others laughed at him.

"There are no jobs in this game!" one called out. Kirito rolled his eyes as everyone yelling their thoughts.

"Are you taking this seriously?" another called out. Diabel only smiled and waved his hands to calm everyone down.

"Alright, alright!" he said as his face suddenly became serious. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

Gasps of disbelief and surprise filled the air as everyone took in the information. Kirito kept silent.

"Are you serious?" said a player not too far from Kirito. Diabel nodded.

"We did. To get to the second floor, we need to beat the boss and tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that there is still hope; hope that we can beat this game! And everyone here is going to help out!" he said as he clutched his right fist in front of him. "Do you guys agree?!"

The others nervously looked at each other and hesitantly agreed. Kirito grabbed his left arm as he felt a smile reach his mouth. Slowly but surely, everyone came to an agreement and cheered.

"Good! Now that all of us are on the same page, let's begin our plan to beat the boss." Diabel said. "First, let's divide into parties of six. After all, how can we beat the boss with a normal party? We'll need to attack the boss with several parties."

"Eh?" Kirito said dumbly as he blinked. "Crap…" He looked around to see everyone already in their party. All except one. A person with a red-ish brown cloak sat several feet away from him. Without much of a choice, Kirito stood up and walked over to her.

"Um…would you like to form a party with me?" he asked as he took a seat next to her. "I got left out, too."

"I wasn't left out." she said as she didn't turn her head toward him. "I stayed out of it since everyone already knew each other."

"A solo player?" Kirito asked as he tilted his head to the side a little. "Then, want to party with me?"

She turned her head in his direction. Kirito blinked as he continued talking. "Diabel said tha we can't beat the boss by ourselves. It'll be better to fight as a group. So, just this once?"

She didn't answer as she nodded once. Kirito opened up his menu and sent and invite to her. She accepted the invite and her HP bar appeared right under Kirito's. He blinked when he read the English characters of his new acquaintance.

Asuna

"Okay, have you guys formed your parties?" Diabel's voice rang out. "Then—"

"Wait a minute!" interrupted a voice. Kirito looked up to see a shadowed figure standing at the top of the steps of the arena. The figure jumped down the steps with two long jumps and landed not too far from Diabel, who stood with a confused look on his face. Kirito watched with slight interest when the figure revealed himself to be another young adult with spiky red-orange hair.

"My name's Kibaou. I wanna say something before we fight the boss." he said as his gaze swept the whole crowd, accusingly. "Some of you guys need to apologize to all of those two thousand players that died so far!" He pointed his pointer finger at the others.

Kirito resisted the urge to grab his right arm. He knew exactly where this was going. He heard it several times before when he was stuck with Klein.

"Kibaou-san," Diabel intervened, "—are you talking about the beta testers?"

"Of course I am!" Kibaou yelled at him. He turned to the crowd with his fists clenched. "On the first day this stupid death game started, the beta testers completely ditched us beginners, and cared more for their own survival! They took all the good places to hunt and the easy quests for themselves! All because they wanted to get stronger. And what about us? The rest of us? They completely forgot about us!" His expression became full of anger as he lifted a fist at the crowd. "I know one of you was a beta! They should get on their knees and apologize! They should give us all their items and money they took!"

He crossed his arms with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. "Or else, we can't trust them to protect us when we fight as a group!"

Kirito took in a deep breath to hide a flinch. True, he was a beta player and he intended to leave the moment the "tutorial" was over, but he never got the chance. He was stuck with Klein for the whole month! He shook his head and forced himself to calm down. He didn't want Asuna to notice how nervous he was getting.

At the corner of his sight, Kirito saw a ridiculously tall person walk up to Kibaou. His skin was the color of chocolate as his structure was muscular. A large axe was strapped to his back. Kirito could see that the player's chest plate armor was torn slightly. Kibaou stared up at him in shock.

"My name is Egil." the player said in a deep voice. "Tell me, Kibaou-san, if I have this correct. You're trying to say that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take on the responsibility of their deaths, apologize, and give us everything they earned. Right?"

Kibaou raised his shoulders a little and had a frustrated expression on his face. "Of course!"

Egil pulled out a dark brown book that was tiny in his large hand. "Didn't you get this guide-book? It's free in the item store."

"Yeah, I did! Why? What's a book gotta do with this?" Kibaou asked.

"This book contains information about the game that the beta testers had given."

"Whoa, what?" said a player two rows down. Everyone who didn't know showed their surprise.

"Everyone has access to the information the beta players know." Egil said as he turned to face the crowd. "But even so, many players died. I thought that the reason we were here was to learn from their deaths so that we wouldn't make the same mistake twice; and how to defeat the boss."

Kirito let out a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly. Egil turned away from the crowd and looked down at Kibaou since he was so tall. Kibaou scowled and took a seat in the front with a humph. Egil took a seat not too far from him. Diabel nodded in satisfaction when the moment of unease passed.

"Alright," he said to gain everyone's attention. "Let's continue. Just recently, a new edition to that guide-book was issued, and it has exactly what we need: information about the boss." He opened the book and scanned through it. "According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang, the Kobold Lord. Also, he's guarded by Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He's armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and on the last bar goes red, he switches to a carved sword-type called Talwar. His attack patterns will change also."

Kirito listened as everyone marveled at the information. Since he was a beta tester, he inwardly checked if the information was true. The last detail seemed a bit off to him but he ignored it. Generally, the guide-book was right, anyway. Diabel closed the book and looked up at everyone with a smile.

"And that's it! That's the end of the briefing. And before I forget, the items will be distributed automatically. The EXP will go to the party that beats the boss and whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any questions?"

No one spoke up as they all agreed on the terms.

"Good, we'll leave tomorrow morning at ten." Diabel announced. He threw his right arm to the side. "I'll see you then!"

Everyone around Kirito either gathered around their party or left the arena. Kirito heard his partner get up and leave. He stared after her in quiet shock. _Surely she wanted to at least know who she's partying with…right?_ Kirito thought to himself. Once she disappeared from his sight, he turned to the center of the arena and watched Kibaou apologize to Diabel. He frowned when he suddenly remembered Klein.

Now, how is he going to avoid getting seen by—

"Hey, excuse me but have you seen a short teenager with black hair and eyes?" asked a familiar voice not too far away. Kirito snapped his head toward the voice to see Klein's back facing him. His eyes widened and he took off in a fast, but silent dash.

Kirito was oblivious to the look of sadness that crossed Diabel's features as he ran.

* * *

I was originally going to write all the way until after the first boss battle but that was just waaaaaaaaaay too long. So the night before and the battle is in the next chappy! Not only that, true h*ll starts for Kirito then! Aw, man, now I feel guilty... Anyway, thanks to Kanrei, Guest, and Are all names used for reviewing last chapter! Oh and since I can't respond to Guest since this person is...well, a Guest, I will respond to you here.

**Guest:** Yeah, see, I knew I should've added more details but I couldn't really think straight at the time. Now about Rinko jumping straight to Kayaba, it's because she was previously Kayaba's love interest. Since she's known Kayaba for a while, she couldn't help but think a lot of the things she does somehow traces back to him. I took Koujiro Rinko from the light novel. Everything will make sense much later. ^^

Well, tell me what you guys think! The next update may take a while because of my Junior project and the Fine Arts Academy Exhibition happening on the most lovey-dovey day of the year. Later!

-CloudyLightning

P.S: Is it Agil or Egil? I can't really seem to find the correct one...


	5. Chapter 5: The Beater

Ah, wow. Fast update. Well, thank you to Reeves-san, Kanrei, Guest, fan, Are all names used, NNeko, Thatonekidthatnobodylikes, and IRISofBLUE for reviewing last chapter! Sorry, Are all names are used! Looks like it will be a very loooooong week.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own da karakters or da canon thingy!

* * *

Chapter 5: Beater

The lanterns flickered on as night quickly came. Kirito had just finished purchasing a loaf of black bread and a small jar of cream from a small bakery and looked for a place to relax. All day, he was trying to hide from Klein and his other used-to-be party members as they were searching for him. Sadly for him, they were practically everywhere. Kirito had to hide in the second floor of a NPC's house to keep away.

He stretched as he walked, trying to wake himself up. Looking around warily, he spotted the familiar figure of a hooded girl sitting on a ledge. She held a loaf of black bread in her small hands and just stared at it. Kirito stood in his place for a second and debated if he should go up to her. He watched her take a small bite of her bread. He sighed and took his first step toward her.

"It's a nice evening, huh?" Kirito said lamely. Asuna turned her head in his direction with a frown.

"Oh, it's you." she sighed as she turned back to her bread. Kirito fought the urge to frown and forced a smile.

"Aha... Can I sit here?" he asked politely. She didn't answer and decided to ignore him. Taking that as a yes, he sat next to her and took out a loaf of black bread. Kirito glanced over to Asuna. "I guess you like black bread, too. I know it tastes good by itself but if you add a bit of this..." Kirito digged through his pocket, brought of the small jar of cream and placed it in between them. "It'll taste a lot better."

He tapped the jar with his fingertips and quickly dragged them over the top of his bread. A white cream appeared on his bread. Kirito smiled when he heard Asuna gasp in surprise. He turned to her and slid the jar towards her. "Here, you try."

She hesitantly reached for if with her left hand and followed Kirito's example as she applied the cream. The jar shattered into tiny particles of data as a he took a small bite. Asuna froze for a couple seconds before suddenly inhaling the rest. Kirito watched her with wide eyes and slowly ate his own bread. She sighed in satisfaction.

"See, it's really good. I got the cream from a side quest I did with a couple others. I can show you if you want." Kirito said as he only ate half of his bread. A habit he got IRL. Asuna folded her hands on her lap.

"I didn't come to this town for good food." she said suddenly. Kirito rested his hand on his lap with the half eaten bread since he wasn't hungry anymore.

"Then why?" he asked. She didn't answer for a moment. Kirito thought of apologizing to her for asking suddenly but she spoke up.

"So, I can still be myself. I won't allow myself to rot away in this game - in this world. Not when I can still be myself. Even if a monster kills me, I won't let this world beat me. No matter what happens." she said. Kirito sat silently as she spoke. He inwardly smiled.

"Then, live. I don't want someone to die on me. Especially if you're in my party. Just... Don't die tomorrow." Kirito said. Asuna turned her head toward him.

"You, too."

._._._._._.

"Okay," Kirito began as he walked next to Asuna at the very back of the group of players. "Since we're the extras, we have to target the boss's helpers."

"I know." came Asuna's blunt reply.

"I'll use a sword skill and knock their axes upward. The moment I do, you ≪Switch≫ with me." Kirito continued.

"≪Switch≫?" Asuna asked. He gave her a disbelieving look.

"You don't know what ≪Switch≫ is?" he asked.

"No." said Asuna.

"Wait, is this your first time in a party?!" Kirito asked.

"Yes." Her answer was blunt and emotionless. Kirito stopped in his tracks and just stared at her in utter disbelief as she walked past him.

"You have got to be kidding me..." He muttered under his breath.

._._._._._.

An hour later, the whole group finally made it to the boss room. Kirito had told Asuna all he could about fighting in a party and all the other things that he thought were needed. Diabel stabbed his sword into the ground as everyone gathered around him.

"Alright everyone. I only have on thing to say: Let's win!" he said with strength and encouragement behind his words. Everyone nodded with agreement and determination. Kirito shared a quick glance with Asuna. Both of them sent each other a silent message as they told the other not to die.

"Let's go." Diabel said. Everyone readied themselves as he turned to open the doors of the boss room. Diabel entered first and everyone followed him with Kirito and Asuna at the back.

They entered a dark, ridiculously large throne room with caution. Kirito could see the faint outline of the boss at the end of the room. He drew his sword ≪Panzerstecher≫ with his right hand to ease the fear that began to build up.

The room suddenly erupted into colors as the room lit up. The Kobold Lord, Illfang, jumped from his throne and landed not too far ahead of the group, swinging his huge axe to show off. In front of him, several white lights appeared and revealed three Ruin Kobold Sentinels. With a loud roar, Illfang rushed forward.

Diabel pointed his sword toward the boss. "Commence attack!"

Everyone quickly jumped to action. Those who were assigned to the boss rushed past the Sentinels. Diabel yelled out orders and stayed at the back. Kirito held his sword up and made a quick dash toward the closest one and used his sword skill ≪Vertical Slash≫. The sentinel's axe was thrown up, just as Kirito predicted. He quickly jumped back.

"≪Switch≫!" he yelled. Immediately after his yell, Asuna zipped past him with a shocking speed. Kirito watched her with awe as she quickly attacked the sentinel with a sword skill. He began to wonder if she really was just a beginner. She was so fast that he couldn't really follow her movements.

The sentinel shattered into several bits of light from her attack. Kirito smiled.

"Good job, Asuna." he whispered to himself. Another sentinel approached him with the intent to harm and Kirito slashed at it with his sword. It backed away stunned. A loud roar caught his attention and he looked at the boss. Next to its face was three empty bars and one other in the red. Illfang was growling at the other players and threw his axe and shield away.

"Look like that book was right!" said Kibaou with a cocky smile.

"Stand back!" called Diabel. Everyone turned to Diabel's direction and quickly moved out of the way as he ran past them. "I got this!"

Kirito watched Diabel run toward Illfang. He felt that something was amiss.

"Wait, Diabel's not supposed to..." Kirito cut himself off as he caught Diabel's eye. Diabel smirked and continued to run as he started up a sword skill. Illfang reached behind himself and pulled out a sword. But it wasn't ≪Talwar≫. No, this sword was different. It was like a butcher's knife with two tips. Kirito felt his body run cold when he recognized the blade.

"≪No-Dachi≫!?" Kirito exclaimed in his head. He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"NO! DON'T DO IT! JUMP BACK! JUMP BACK AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" he yelled desperately. But his warning came too late. Illfang jumped up and landed near the top of a pillar only to jump off to another. He leaped to several pillars as Diabel watched in confusion. He suddenly dashed at Diabel and slashed at him, leaving a gaping red gash in his avatar. Kirito froze in place as he felt helpless. Diabel was thrown mercilessly into the air.

"DIABEL!" Kibaou cried out. Illfang suddenly appeared behind him and the other players. He spun on his heel and jumped away. Illfang growled horrifyingly.

Kirito abandoned his place and quickly ran over Diabel. He fell to his knees beside him and supported him with his right arm. Diabel's HP was quickly declining to the edge of his HP bar.

"Why did you go alone?!" Kirito asked with worry lacing his voice. He quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out a potion and brought it to Diabel's mouth, but was stopped by a hand. Diabel's hand.

Kirito froze and his eyes widened in horror. "Why-"

"You were...a beta tester, weren't you?" he asked as he started directly into Kirito's eyes. "You know what I was after."

Realization dawned on Kirito and his eyes immediately became sad. "You were after the last attack rare item. So, you were a beta tester, too."

Diabel struggled a smile. "Please... Defeat...Defeat the boss...for the sake of everyone else." he said. Kirito was about to say something but Diabel suddenly shattered into particles of light.

"Whoa! Wait!" Kirito breathed out as he watched the fragments float upward. A feeling of dread crashed upon him when he felt the weight of Diabel's words fall on his shoulders. Diabel had been a beta tester that did what he couldn't do. He lead the other players and helped them out. Kirito could do nothing but stand at the side and barely have a say in things.

A quick flash of pain streaked through the back of his head. He held back a cry of pain and forced himself to stand up. Kirito tightened his grip on his sword, half of the reason was the determination and guilt he felt and the other was for the sharp pain in his head. Asuna appeared next to him in a flash.

"I'll go with you." she said quietly. Kirito closed his eyes and willed the pain to go away, but it didn't happen. He forced himself glance at Asuna.

"Thanks." Without another word, the two dashed forward and headed straight to the boss. Kirito readied his sword.

"We'll use the same tactic we used for the sentinels!" Kirito yelled as they neared the deranged Illfang.

"Right!" Asuna replied. Illfang noticed the two approaching and knocked any players out of the way. He brought his sword to his side and activated a sword skill. Kirito repeated his action as a counter. With a battle cry, Kirito slashed his sword, colliding with Illfang's ≪No-Dachi≫.

"≪Switch≫!" he yelled as he was pushed aside. Asuna dashed in front of Illfang while he was dazed, but he recovered faster than expected. Kirito immediately yelled out her name desperately.

"ASUNA!"

She looked up and dodged just before Illfang was able to strike her. Her red cloak was destroyed and finally revealed her long hazelnut colored hair. She quickly recovered and activated her sword skill and thrusted forward. Illfang was thrown back.

Kirito was a bit dazed by both the attack and Asuna, but he quickly snapped out of it and stood up. "He's coming back!"

He dashed up to Illfang and threw him off with another sword skill. Asuna rushed in and jabbed Illfang in the stomach. He stumbled back and came back again, catching Asuna off guard. Kirito was quick to save her and blocked the attack. Illfang roared in anger and brought his sword down heavily on Kirito several times, but each one was blocked.

With another cry of anger, Illfang slashed at Kirito horizontally. Kirito felt his sword fling upward and immediately tightened his grip. It was then when he realized he was wide open. Illfang brought his sword back and slashed at Kirito.

Kirito was flung back by the force of the attack as he rammed into Asuna, taking her with him. They were thrown back several feet back and Asuna had to take the rough landing. His sword flew out of his hands and skidded to a halt. Asuna saw Kirito's HP go down by half and was quick to help support him. A shadow loomed over them as Illfang raised his sword above his head.

"Ah!" Asuna closed her eyes and raised her sword to block the attack but felt a strong gust of wind behind her. She opened her eyes to see Agil standing before them. He lowered his axe as the other players rushed past them to distract Illfang.

"We'll hold him off while you recover." he told Kirito. Before Kirito could say anything, Agil already rushed into the fray.

The pain in his head intensified and Kirito bit the back of his lip to keep from crying out. He forced himself to get up as he watched the other players fight Illfang. For a second, it seemed that they had the upper hand until Illfang activated yet another sword skill. He swung his sword and knocked everyone out of the way. And suddenly, he jumped.

"Oh, crap!" Kirito cried out as he leapt to his feet, dashing toward Illfang. He jumped up and activated a sword skill of his own. "No, you won't hit them!"

He slashed downward and sent Illfang crashing to the ground. Kirito landed clumsily and ignored the pain his head. He ran toward Illfang.

"Asuna!" he called out, "One more hit! We'll do it together!"

Asuna got up from her place and ran to Kirito. "Right!"

The two ran next to each other and ran at full speed to Illfang. The Kobold Lord roared when he was struck with Kirito's sword.

Slash!

Illfang was knocked back by Asuna's sword as it cut through him.

Slash!

Kirito's blade came shortly after as he was knocked further back.

Slash!

Asuna's sword slashed his side.

Slash!

Kirito's sword cut his chest.

Slash!

Illfang roared when Asuna's sword cut across his stomach. Kirito charged up his sword and unleashed a sword skill.

"Riaaaaaaaaaaah!" cried Kirito as he dug his sword from the bottom of Illfang's stomach and pulled it upward with both hands. His sword pulled free from the Kobold Lord.

Illfang flew up into the air and glowed white before shattering into tiny particles of data. Kirito landed on his feet and stood there for a moment before collapsing to his knee.

"We-we did it!" stuttered a player. Everyone suddenly erupted in to cheers as the "Congratulations!" notification showed up. Kirito was at the back trying to catch his breath and hoping that the pain in his head would go away. In front of him, was a window saying, "Congratulations! You got the last attacking bonus! You got the ≪Coat of Midnight≫!"

"Good job." said Asuna behind him. Kirito turned to see her standing next to Agil.

"Good swordsmanship. Congratulations." Agil said with a smile. "This victory belongs to you."

Kirito turned away and shook his head. "No..."

But even when he denied it, everyone cheered for him. He stared at them with slight surprise. Kirito was about to get up when someone stopped him.

"Why?!" Kibaou yelled. Everyone turned to him in shock. "Why did you let Diabel die?!"

"E-eh? 'Let him die'...?" Kirito asked as he tried to blink away the pain.

"Yeah! You knew what sword the boss was using!" Kibaou cried out. "If you told us earlier, then Diabel wouldn't have died!"

One of the players suddenly pointed an accusing finger at Kirito. "He must've been one to the beta testers! He must have known all the attack patterns and never told us! There are other beta tester here, right? Come out!"

Everyone fell into a tense silence as they looked accusingly at each other. Kirito frowned. He knew that if this were prolong any longer, then no one would ever trust each other. He turned away and saw that his window was still open. Dread began to grow again when an idea came into mind. It was a risky one, but there wasn't much if a choice. Kirito had to do this. He swallowed his fear and pain and forced himself to go with his plan.

"Oi, will you cut this out?" Agil asked. A loud mocking laughter echoed through the room and caught everyone's attention.

They all traced it to the small, frail looking boy kneeling on the ground. Kirito forced himself to get up. His dark bangs covered his eyes as he faced everyone.

"A beta tester?" he began as he walked through the crowd. "Don't go comparing me with those idiots."

"W-what?!" Kibaou yelled as he got up.

"Those thousand players were beginners. They didn't even had the slightest idea of how to level up. You guys are better than them." Kirito walked past Agil and Asuna and stood before Kibaou. "I am nothing like them. During the beta, I made it higher than anyone else. I knew the boss's pattern because I've fought a monster with katana sword skills in the floors far above us. I know a lot more, too. More than any information broker."

Kirito mustered his courage to talk and act like a cocky brat. He never done it before, but he desperately needed to do so. He couldn't let the other beta testers suffer anymore players accusing them. He must've pulled it off when he saw the look of horror and shock on Kibaou's face.

"T-that's worse than a beta tester!" he stammered as he took a step back. "You're a-a-a cheater! No, a beater!"

Kirito faked a dark smile. "Beater... Sounds good. I like it."

He opened his menu as he spoke. "From now on, I am a beater. Don't confuse me with any other beta tester." With that, he equipped the ≪Coat of Midnight≫. It appeared suddenly and reached down to his ankles. It was a simple black coat. He gave Kibaou a final, cocky smirk before turning away and heading upstairs to unlock the second floor.

No one bothered to intercept him as he passed them.

._._._._._.

After Kirito was sure no one was following him, he took a seat at a step and grabbed his head. It was pounding and it seemed like the pain just became unbearable. He knew that in the real world, he wouldn't live for much longer.

Kirito sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Please don't tell me I just made everything worse." He wasn't aware of the footsteps that were climbing up the stairs.

"Hey!"

Kirito looked up and saw Asuna not too far away. "Asuna..."

She looked flustered, most likely from running up the steps. She gave Kirito a serious look. "How do you know my name? I don't ever recall you ever saying it."

Kirito stared at her for a second. "Do you see little HP bar underneath your own at the top left corner of your eye...?" he asked. Asuna looked to her left and blinked.

"Kirito...?" she said. He got up and ignored the biting pain as he turned away from her. She laughed to herself. "Wow, your name was right there all along."

"Yeah. Listen, Asuna." Kirito said without looking at her. "You can't party with me anymore. Go and find a guild that will accept you. You'll survive that way."

There was a slight pause.

"What about you?" she asked. Kirito shook his head.

"I can't. I have to go on alone." he said, more to himself than Asuna. He climbed the last remaining steps and opened the door. Opening his menu, he removed Asuna from his party. "Just live."

Asuna blinked at the window that popped up saying that she was removed from the party. She quickly dismissed it and took a step to follow him but when she blinked, he wasn't there. Well, he was there, but he disappeared. She looked around and found absolutely no trace of him. Her eyes widened.

"He's...gone..."

* * *

That was a looooooong choppy I guess. I was supposed to NOT write this until after next week Monday, but oh, well. Tell me what you guys think! Maybe the next update may be just as fast as this one.

-CloudyLight


	6. Chapter 6: Hide-and-Seek

I'm back with another chapter! And leaving for Disney! Yeah, this update was late and I'm supposed to be cleaning before my departure for my trip, but I wanted to get this up before I go. Thank you to Thatonekidnobodylikes, Elia950, MrConcreteDonkey, realisticFantasy, All the names are used, and AkimiMaeNyan for reviewing last chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online.

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Chapter 6

The pain in his head had faded to a dull thump. Kirito knew something was wrong. He didn't how, or what was wrong, but he just knew. After he stepped through those doors to the second floor, everything just turned black. Oddly, the game screen was still there: his HP and the time.

5:57.

Five hours after they defeated the boss. He knew he didn't collapse again since he didn't feel the all too familiar pain from falling over. He tried to raise his hands up to get his bearings, but they didn't twitch. A small tad of worry reached him when he tried to move anything else. Nothing moved.

Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He had a clear view of red-orange clouds lazily drifting across the sky, but the sun was no where in sight. Panicking, he tried to move around. The only thing that he could move was his eyes.

"What-" he began.

"Are you having fun, Ka-no, Kirito-kun? You've been playing for a whole month." said a familiar voice behind him. Kirito blinked. He recognized the voice but he couldn't place a face.

"Who...?" he subconsciously asked. He heard the voice behind him chuckle.

"I'm a little concerned about your impaired speech. Hopefully you can talk normally here. I never actually asked you about this during the beta. Maybe I should ask you now..." the voice said. Kirito furrowed his eyebrows.

"Impaired speech? How do you...who are you?" he asked. He tried to face the speaker, but his body wouldn't move.

"Don't tell me you already forgot the sound of my voice." the voice said with a hint of hurt. Kirito closed his eyes and tried to remember. Suddenly, he saw a picture of a man with short grayish hair and small black eyes as he reached over to pat Kirito on the head with a smile, but no name. He opened his eyes slowly with sadness and confusion.

"Who...?" he asked as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You know what? Forget it. Let's make things a little more interesting, shall we?" the voice said. "How about the two of us play a little game? It's a simple one."

"A game in a game? You have to tell me who you are first." said Kirito. The hand left his shoulder.

"That's the point of the game, Kirito." the voice sighed. "If you can find me, you have to beat me. Beat me in battle and I'll bring you 'home'. See? A simple game of hide-and-seek. We used to always play these games together when you were younger."

"'Hide-and-seek? That doesn't really sound like it. It's more like a hunting game to me..." Kirito trailed off. The voice behind him chuckled.

"True... Then how about you find me before I find you? So, if I find you first and I beat you, I will bring your level back to one and you have start all over again right where you are. But if you find me first and you beat me, then I will grant you one request." the voice said. "Sound fair?"

Kirito's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't. You know what I look like already, but I don't know what you look like. Hardly fair."

There was a pause before the voice came again.

"Now, that isn't true. I'm only seeing the back of you. I'm sure the next time we meet you wouldn't be wearing the same thing. We might not even notice it." the voice said. Kirito could hear the smile in its tone.

"You know my name." Kirito countered. The voice laughed.

"I'm not going to remember it. I can't help but think of your IRL name. I won't remember it when you leave this area, though." the voice said.

"Are you lying?" Kirito asked.

"No, you always had a knack of detecting lies." came the immediate response from the voice. Kirito was about to answer but was cut off by something-or rather-someone.

Someone pushed him from behind and he felt himself falling. Kirito saw a huge metal object floating before him. It was shaped like a gigantic cocoon with thorns stabbed inside. A majestic gold castle glistened in the honey colored light as it sat at the top of the cocoon, screaming its importance.

The castle came closer and closer by the second. Kirito finally regained his mobility of his body. He brought his arms in hope to lessen the raging wind blowing into his face. He couldn't tell of he was screaming, but he knew his voice started low and gradually crescendo to a terrified cry.

"WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Everything went black.

._._._._._._.

SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT TWO PERCENT.

._._._._._._.

He suddenly sat up and his breathing was erratic. He could feel his heart racing even though he was in a game. He brought his hands to his chest and tried to calm himself down.

Kirito closed his eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." he kept saying to himself. He repeated those same words between breathes over and over and over again until those words became a jumbled mess tumbling out of his mouth. It took him a while, but after thirty long minutes, he was finally able to breathe normally.

He opened his eyes and took a good long look around him. Green fields of endless grass surrounded him and the ceiling was red-orange from the setting sun. He was back in Aincrad. He knew where he was right off the bat.

"Why am I back on the first floor?" he asked out loud. Fearing that his profile may have been messed with, he quickly opened his menu and checked his stats.

LV: 12

STR: 35

INT: 21

VIT: 28

DEF: 33

SEARCHING: 29/1000

TRACKING: 23/1000

SPRINTING: 30/100

HIDING: 19/1000

No change there. Kirito just noticed the black sleeve covering his arm. He dismissed his menu and held his hands before him. His arms were covered by the item he received as the last hit bonus.

Kirito dropped his hands on his lap and grimaced at the memory. He didn't like what he did, but it had to be done. Shaking his head to clear it, he remembered ending up at some weird place.

He looked at his hands and thought about the game he was suddenly dragged into. Well, another game to be exact.

Kirito figured out who was the guy talking to him. The creator that trapped thousands of players. He sighed and brought his knees to his chest.

"Damn it, this is exactly why I didn't want to play this game in the first place." Kirito muttered to himself. He sat there and thought about what he should do. Should he go back to the second floor? Or should he try to find something important to do while he was here in the first floor?

As he thought, he remembered a side quest he did during the beta. It was an easy one that got him a really good sword. Kirito looked up and decided to head to the closest town or village. He got up, dusted himself off, and began his long walk.

But as he walked he couldn't help but hear the same words echo through his head.

"Beat me and I'll bring you 'home'."

His eyes saddened and remembered his sister. "You're good at lying, Aki-nii-chan. I don't ever recall playing hide-and-seek with you before. Only me and Sugu played that game."

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Please don't get mad that me since this chapter was short and didn't go much further. But I had a ton of stuff to turn in and I barely made it to the deadline of turning things in. That's why this was late. Anyway, I will be gone for a whole week and back soon. Well, tell me what you think and I'll finally progress through the story! Have a great spring break!

-CloudyLightning


End file.
